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On this day in Alabama history: Tribute show held for WWE’s Paul Bearer

By Graydon RustAlabama 200

March 11, 2017

Percy Pringle (a ring name for William Moody) at a MFW show in Melrose, Mass. on January 8, 2011. (Percy & Tom, shstrng, Wikimedia)

March 11, 2013

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) held a tribute show on Raw for professional wrestling manager William Moody, who died six days earlier. A trained mortician and embalmer from Mobile, Moody is most famous for his work in the WWE as Paul Bearer — a cackling, ghostly character with white face makeup, a ceremonial urn and the catchphrase “Ohhh yesss!” Often managing top wrestlers like Kane, Vader and Mankind, Moody is most remembered for his time with the Undertaker, a 6’10”, 310-lb wrestler nicknamed “the Deadman,” who was a perfect complement to Moody’s Paul Bearer. Moody was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014.

Paul Bearer (a ring name for William Moody) was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 5, 2014. Moody’s two sons are featured in the photograph. (Miguel Discart, Wikimedia)